Chicago Botanic Gardens, Regenstein Learning Campus

project at a glance

The Regenstein Learning Campus at the Chicago Botanic Gardens is a two-story academic and hands-on learning space with 30,000 square feet of classrooms--including a preschool, a kitchen/cooking classroom, indoor and outdoor classrooms, multi-media space, and staff offices. The building features a unique, curved brick and curtainwall exterior, capped by several hundred feet of saw-tooth skylights, and it's seeking LEED Platinum certification. It includes green and sustainable features and elements, such as photovoltaic panels on the roof, abundant natural light, high-efficiency lighting, heating, and cooling, and water collection for irrigation.

The project also includes approximately five acres of landscaping that serves both as a hands-on learning area, and a natural playground with a running water feature, moguls, a willow tunnel, and more. The Botanic Gardens sees more than 125,000 visitors a year,